Shadow Games
by ScruffyLovin
Summary: Sequel to The Good Guys Aren't Invincible. Staying at Casey's grandmother's old farmhouse with April for a little down time, Casey starts seeing some peculiar things in the woods just when the turtles are coming to visit.
1. Chapter I

**Disclaimer: **Nope, nope. I don't own any TMNT characters, sadly. My poor excuse for a life couldn't afford it. x-0; I get my sense of accomplishment from writin' fanfics. BOO-YAH for me! I own a plotline, alright! _::grins stupidly and walks away::_

**Summary: **Sequel to _**The Good Guys Aren't Invincible**. _Staying at Casey's grandmother's old farmhouse with April for a little down time, Casey starts seeing some peculiar things in the woods. When the Turtles come to visit, he eventually confides in Raphael and Mikey, but now they are being called crazy by the others.

**Note: **I got a few chapters written, so I decided to start posting this and hopefully writer's block won't corrupt me while I try to finish. _::crosses fingers:: _So please review! And don't be upset if theupdates come a little slower than usual, but it shouldn't be _too_ long. x-0 I hope.

**Shadow Games: I**

Leaves bustled around wistfully past the old dirty window, falling elegantly to join rest of the multi-colored foliage on the ground. April leaned up against the window-frame and let out a sigh as she watched the autumn air shift and swirl the leaves into a small funnel. She shivered suddenly, wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing them only to remember that there was no heat in the dilapidated farmhouse because they couldn't afford to pay for the oil man to come and fill the tanks. The boiler probably needed fixing as well. "Casey, did you get the fire going yet?" she asked without turning around.

"Almost got it April!" he called back, packing more wood and newspaper strips into the old wood stove. Standing back a little and reaching into his pocket, Casey pulled out a little matchbox, then opened it to take out a single match before striking it along the side of the box. A bright orange-yellow flame burst at the tip, and he used his free hand to shield it as he brought it toward the stove and lit the edge of a newspaper scrap. Grinning proudly as the paper set the dry wood alight, Casey backed up and grinned, turning around to where April stood by the window. "I give you heat!" he exclaimed with victory.

"Finally." April sighed, still not turning around. She and Casey had been staying at the farmhouse for almost two weeks now, and they'd just recently needed the warmth with the sudden turn of the weather lately.

Casey's brief moment of glory was interrupted when a sudden _thud _sounded behind him and something hit the heel of his shoe. Jumping slightly and turning, he found that a burning log had tumbled out of the stove. "Yikes!" he reached down and picked up the log that was glowing with fire to quickly get it back in the stove before it set the floor alight. "Ouch! Hot! Hot!" he exclaimed in a yelling sort of whisper as the heat began burning through his gloves. Casey tossed it back into the stove and closed the door, twisting the latch so it stayed shut. "_Phew._" he sighed before peeling off his burnt gloves and disguarding them on the floor. Turning around he found that April was staring at him. He smiled crookedly. "Uh..whoops."

Instead of scolding him for his carelessness, April just shook her head and laughed. "Nice going Casey." she rolled her eyes at his semi-sheepish smile and walked toward the wood stove to absorb some of the warmth. "This'll be nice tonight." she said with a smile.

"Yeh," Casey just nodded. "Oh, an' the guys said they'd be comin' tomorrow."

"That's right, I forgot." April said, glancing at him and rubbing her hands together. "They'll really appreciate the heat with it being so cold out lately, especially since they're cold-blooded."

"Mm." Casey suddenly adapted a curious expression and began walking toward the window to stare out into the woods. The light outside was dimming as the sun had already set, and it would be pitch black out soon.

"Casey? What is it?"

April's voice shook him from the zoning stare and he absently scratched the back of his head and walked away from the window. "Oh, uh, nothin'." April had dismissed the subject easily enough, but Casey hadn't quite told the truth. He thought he'd seen something out there. A strange shadow moving between the trees. Figuring it was probably nothing to worry about, just some wild animals, Casey headed past April and began wandering into the kitchen.

- - - - -

That night, April found herself with a bit of insomnia, so she crawled out from under the layers of blankets over her and walked off down the hall wrapped in her fuzzy robe. As she was passing the room where Casey was sleeping, April paused at the open door and leaned against the frame, looking in. She remembered when they had first arrived at the farmhouse and she decided to do some serious cleaning up. Casey didn't mind all the dust and cobwebs everywhere, but she did.

Casey groaned and mumbled something incoherent in his sleep before rolling onto his side and pulling a blanket over his head.

April noticed that ever since he was hurt by the Purple Dragons back in the city, Casey had difficulty sleeping, or staying asleep. It was no longer due to his injuries though, but instead April figured it had to do with the memory of his beating or something. She sighed with a sympathetic frown as she watched him toss and turn a few more times before settling. He had that tough-guy attitude like Raphael, but she knew there had to be fears, weaknesses within him that he was hiding.

Casey had pretty much completely healed from his broken ribs and other injuries, though he still held a few faint scars on his face, right leg, and back. He was doing so much better than he had been weeks ago, but April would occasionally catch him clasping a hand over his ribs if he accidentally bumped something against his side. She just figured that he might still be a little sore, or that it was just a remembered pain and he was doing it out of habit.

Breathing a quiet sigh, April pulled her robe tighter around herself and walked further down the hall before reaching the steps and heading downstairs. She was trying to be quiet, but it was alittle difficult with the loud creaking noises from the old wooden floorboards. There were no lights on, but the soft glow emanating from the wood stove was bright enough so April could find her way around. She was about to head into the kitchen and brew some coffee when she just realized it would keep her up even longer, so instead she settled for plopping down on the couch and staring thoughtfully at the stove.

- - - - -

_Everything was a bluish shade of grey, there was a small room that Casey was standing in. Atleast, it appeared to be a small room at first. Suddenly the walls seemed to expand, the floor sunk beneath him so he was now standing in about a foot of sewer water. Casey looked up when he noticed light reflecting on the water at his feet. The manhole cover was pulled off above him, the light from a streetlight above shining down into the hole. It wasn't daylight as he had originally thought. _

_Squinting against the light and still peering upwards as if expecting someone to come down the ladder, Casey raised a hand over his brow to shield the light and called out, "Yo, anyone up there?"_

_He was met with silence for a long while, until something shadowy and circular in shape came through the hole, plunking down in the water between his feet. By the time Casey realized it was a grenade, it was too late. There was a loud bang and a flash and he was thrown back in the water. _

_Casey's breath was caught in his throat for a moment and he quickly looked himself over to thankfully realize he wasn't in pieces. It was only a flash grenade. "Hey! Who's up there?!" he shouted, glaring up at the hole. "What gives?!" His heart was pounding so hard against his ribcage he thought it would spring from his chest._

_A looming figure suddenly leaned over the manhole, blocking the light from outside. _

_Stumbling back as he climbed to his feet, and knowing something bad was about to happen, Casey staggered back until he was leaning against the sewer wall. _

_The figure from above was suddenly gone in a blur, and then it (or rather **he**) was standing in front of Casey. The guy was a mountain; stocky and built, with pulled back blonde hair and a large purple tattoo of a dragon going around his left arm. Casey knew him well. He was the leader of the Purple Dragons. _

_"Hun!" Casey shouted at him angrily, his face twisting into anger. _

_The large man didn't respond for awhile, he just stood there staring right through Casey. "Jones," his deep voice suddenly thundered. "First, I'm gonna make you hurt, then I'm gonna get your little green pals and that red-haired chick, and make them watch me kill you before I hand them over to the Shredder." _

_Casey scoffed, putting up his fists. He probably wasn't a match for Hun, especially without weapons, but it suddenly didn't matter. "Go on!" he yelled, suddenly feeling as if someone else was making him do these crazy things and he was no longer in control, but a puppet being used to be tormented. "TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT!" he screamed, spreading his arms in a gesture that showed he wasn't going to fight back. In his mind Casey struggled for control, but it was something he no longer had the choice to make. His own psyche was against him. _

_There was a sudden darkness that blocked his vision, covering everything in his view like a thick, dark blanket. Then there was immediate light all around him, and he saw what he'd be facing next. It was Hun, Shredder, Dragon Face, the rest of the Purple Dragons, Foot Ninja, and all the punks on the street he had ever dealt with. Their eyes were all glowing a fierce, violent red before they all dog-piled on him in an attack._

- - - - -

"NO!" Casey gasped, springing forward to a sitting position. Taking in his surroundings as his bleary eyes adjusted, he sighed and turned slightly on his side so that he was leaning against his left elbow in bed. With a heavy sigh, Casey flopped back against his pillows and rested the back of one hand against his sweaty forehead, reeling from the dream he just had.

"Casey! The guys are here, are you up yet?!" he heard April call from downstairs.

Clearing his throat so he was sure his voice wouldn't crack as he spoke, he yelled back his answer. "Yeh! I'll be down in a minute!" Casey closed his eyes as he sat up and flung his feet over the side of the bed, taking in a calming breath. Deciding on taking a shower before greeting his little green pals, Casey got up and dug out some rumpled clothes from the dufflebag under his bed before heading toward the bathroom.

- - - - -

_Several _minutes later, unlike the _one minute _that Casey said he'd be down in, he loudly made his way downstairs dressed in his blue track pants and red tank-top, shaking a towel through his damp hair. "Hot water heater ain't workin'." he grumbled, walking in the kitchen where April was sitting with Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael.

April let out a frustrated sigh and tossed her arms in the air. "_Great,_" she muttered, "Just another thing around here that doesn't work."

Casey just shrugged with a lopsided smile and jerked his chin up at the four turtles, tossing his towel on the back of a chair. "Hey guys."

"Hey Case." Raphael held out his hand which Casey gave a friendly slap.

"Where's Splinter?" April asked suddenly with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, he said something about needing time alone to meditate peacefully without all of our 'distractions'." Mikey smiled a little as he made the quoting symbols with his hands.

Leonardo rolled his eyes. "In other words..." he began slowly, tilting his head to the side with a mild sheepish smile.

"...You guys were tickin' him off and he wanted to be by himself." Casey finished with a slight laugh as he leaned up against the counter.

Donatello shrugged. "Eh, that assumption would be correct. Heh." He leaned back in his chair, rocking on the rear legs as he balanced himself with a hand on the edge of the table.

"So, how are things back in the city?" April asked as she got up to pour herself another cup of coffee. After spending most of the night staring at the fire in the wood stove, she didn't get much sleep and was fighting it fiercely that morning with all the caffeine she could consume before having to empty her bladder.

"Well," Leo began, leaning forward against the table and propping up an elbow. "Things with the cops have died down, and they found the Purple Dragons that _really _tried to rob the bank. But I'm not so sure they've stopped looking for Casey. I think they want him to go to court for the trial of the thugs as a witness."

"Hmph." Casey just grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well they can just forget about _that _ever happenin'." he grumbled.

"It don't matter that there's gonna be a trial," Raphael grumped. "They're gonna get off free of charges, you watch." he frowned. "With the Foot Ninjas backin' up the Dragons, an' Shredder backin' _them _up, there's no way these punks'll stay in jail for long."

"I hate to admit it, but Raph's right." Leonardo nodded, his frown matching Raphael's, but for different reasons.

"Dude, the justice system is wacked!" Mikey exclaimed animatedly as he joined in the conversation.

April put her hands on her hips and shrugged. "Well guys, you're here to relax, get away from the city. Let's do some of that." she managed a smile to help brighten everyone's moods and gestured for the turtles to get up. "Who wants to go outside and play a game of....uh.." she drifted off, grasping for suggestions from the bunch.

"Dodge ball?!" Mikey shouted with a playful grin.

"Um...." Leonardo grimaced, his eyes trailing off to the side as he thought of something instead of dodge ball.

"How about a nice game of ninja hide-and-seek?" Donatello suggested, smiling.

"What exactly is _ninja_ hide-and-seek, Donnie?" April asked suspiciously.

Raphael headed for the door and stopped with his hand resting on the knob. "It's the same as regular hide-and-seek, except it's harder...'cuz we're _ninja_." he smiled a little, though he'd much rather take part in a playful sparring match out in the barn.

"Alright..." April shrugged, not so sure this would go very well. "Um...so, who's going to _seek_ first then?"

Casey abruptly exclaimed, "Not me!"

Mikey, Raphael, and Leonardo promptly followed suit with a string of chorused, "_not me's"_.

Donnie sighed, having been momentarily distracted by something or other. He half-smiled, looking over at April. "Guess it's me and you then."

April dropped her arms and shook her head with a partial smile as the rest of the turtles took off with Casey outside.

- - - - -

**Note: **Okay, so there's chapter one for ya! Please review!!


	2. Chapter II

**Note: **Thanks for the reviews guys!! I hope no one gets too mad at me 'cuz I didn't write about the game of ninja hide-an'-seek. x-0; But if they play again later I'll be sure ta write about it! Promise! Heee.

**Shadow Games: II**

After dinner, everyone was pretty much hanging out and enjoying the warmth of the stove. Atleast, for a little while it was everyone. To both April and Casey's surprise, the turtles had brought a tv along with them to put in the livingroom. Mikey was most pleased with having the tv around, he had said that he would be bored to near death without it. Mostly because there wasn't much to do once it got dark and cold out. Thankfully Casey had gotten electricity in the old place to make the tv viewing even possible in the first place.

That was where Mikey was, sitting in front of the tv on the floor wrapped in a blanket. Donatello had gone in another room to work on some little robot thing, April had fallen asleep on couch due to her lack of sleep the other night, and Raphael had finally talked Leonardo into sparring with him in the barn. That left Casey. He was currently staring out the window in the kitchen out into the woods. It wasn't quite five o' clock yet, but it had been getting darker earlier lately and it was pretty dim out at the moment.

While they had all been running around playing _ninja _hide-and-seek earlier, Casey had thought he spotted a shadowy figure running between the trees again, something he knew wasn't one of the turtles. The other night he had dismissed it as being a wild animal, but now he wasn't so sure. It looked fairly human in shape as far as he could tell.

Shifting his gaze to focus on a different set of trees, Casey's eyes suddenly went wide as he watched atleast two shadows dodging around out there. Bolting out of the kitchen, he rushed into the livingroom muttering about where he was going before flying out the door with only the clothes on his back and no jacket to combat the chill in the air.

- - - - -

Several hours later, Raphael and Leonardo had long since finished sparring to go inside and warm up by the fire, joining Michelangelo who was still sitting contently in front of the tv, now munching on some leftovers from dinner. April was still fast asleep on the couch, and Donatello was now working on some other little device since his robot had short-circuited.

"Hey Mikey, you seen Case around?" Raph asked his couch-potato brother from a chair he'd plopped down in.

Michelangelo held up a hand to shush him and Raphael growled with annoyance. "Hang on, only one minute left to go before this episode of the _Twilight Zone_'s done." he grinned, eyes still glued to the screen.

Raphael huffed, waiting impatiently.

Mikey stood up after the show had ended, stretched, and turned to face his brother in preparation to answer his previous question. "Uh," he waved a hand aroud, gesturing wildly. "He ran past me a while ago, muttering something about having to find shadows or something, then he rushed out the door." the orange-banded turtle shrugged.

"Hm," Raphael thoughtfully put a hand to his chin, then glanced at the clock on the far right wall. "How long ago?"

Scratching the back of his neck absently, Mikey's eyes drifted upward as he tried to remember. "Let's see....I was watching _Dumb and Dumber _then..."

Raphael rolled his eyes. "I got a _Dumb and Dumber _all-in-one right here." he muttered under his breath, though Michelangelo didn't seem to hear him.

"...and that was before _X-Files _and the _Twilight Zone _two-part episode came on...so..." Mikey continued, before snapping his attention back to the impatient Raphael and concluding, "About four hours ago." Michelangelo grinned, then glanced out the window into the darkness. "He took off in just a t-shirt too, and it's cold out! What a _bonehead_." he shook his head.

Raphael sighed, a twinge of concern causing an unsettling feeling to wash over him. He tapped a hand by his thigh a moment before staring toward the old wooden door. "Ah, maybe we should go look for 'im."

"_You _can go," Mikey stated, pointing at his brother. "I'm not going out there, it's cold!"

Rolling his eyes, Raphael headed into another room, coming out moments later wearing a pair of long pants, an over-sized sweathshirt with a hood, and a red and black flannel jacket. "Fine," he grumbled loudly, waking April from her slumber on the couch. "I'll go find him."

"Find who?" April mumbled sleepily as she sat up and pushed back the blanket covering her.

Before giving April an answer, Raphael headed out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Mikey shivered from the slight draft that entered the warm livingroom when the door had been open and pulled his blanket tighter around himself. "I told him it was cold out there."

"Mikey, what's going on?" April prodded, looking to him for answers and feeling a bit concerned. "Who's Raph going out to find?"

Grimacing slightly, Mikey turned and wandered toward the couch where April was sitting. "Uh, Casey kinda left a few hours ago an' Raph went out to go look for him." He began explaining with a little more detail when Leonardo and Donatello both wandered into the livingroom upon hearing the commotion.

- - - - -

Raphael had been searching for about twenty minutes without even a lead as to where Casey might have gone off to. The woods in the Massaschusetts area were rather dense, and it made it seem much darker that it already was. It was sometime past nine, and Raph was getting cold, even with all the layers he had on. He _was _cold-blooded after all, and he suddenly wished his body temperature _didn't _change with the atmosphere around him.

Waving around the flashlight that he had stuffed in the pocket of his flannel jacket before leaving the farmhouse, Raphael shuffled through the leaves on the soft ground and ducked under a tree branch before furthering his quest. "CASEY!!" he hollered, hoping for a responce this time, but getting none. _C'mon Case, where the shell are ya? _Raph sighed, then paused a moment when he thought he heard some rustling that wasn't coming from him. "Casey?" he questioned into the dark, spinning around when he felt as though something moved quick from behind and brushed against him. Raphael waved his flashlight around, but was only met with darkness. Growing angry, the Turtle waved a fist in the air. "C'mon Casey, if that's you out there, this isn't funny!" he growled.

Raphael was greeted by silence again, only the bitter wind biting past him. He growled deeply under his breath and stomped off once more, stopping when he found himself in a small clearing.

"R-R-Raph? Is'at you?" came a stuttering, shaky voice from across the clearing.

"Casey?" Raphael turned his flashlight to where he heard his friend. Sure enough, it was Casey, though it was a sight the turtle hadn't expected to find. His friend was caught up in some kind of trap, wrapped in a large net that hung from a big old oak tree. Raphael ran toward him. "Jeeze Case, you been stuck here all this time?"

"Y-Y-Yeh," Casey's voice shook as his teeth chattered. His whole body was shaking from the cold.

Raphael might have thought of this as an amusing sight, Casey strung up a tree like he was, but removed all thoughts of laughing from his mind when he realized how cold his friend must have been. "Hang on, I'll get ya down." he said, approaching the net and taking out his sais from the belt under his sweatshirt. Raphael's own hands already felt numb from the cold of just being out there for about half an hour now. "Damn, it's freezing!" he muttered quietly, cutting the net on the side, giving Casey enough room to escape.

He stumbled out of the trap and picked himself up off the ground, rubbing his arms to try and get some warmth. "T-Try bein' out..h-h-here f-for hours." Casey mumbled, teeth chattering more fiercely.

Raphael started taking off the flannel jacket to give to his shivering friend.

"No," Casey shook his head, waving a cold-numbed hand. "Y-You're _guh_-_guh_-gonna need it."

"Nah, I may be cold-blooded but I ain't cold-_hearted_. You been out here awhile, I'll be okay with the sweatshirt I got on 'till we get back inside." Raphael pulled off the jacket and tossed it over Casey's trembling shoulders. "You need it more'n I do, you're on the verge of _hypothermia_."

Casey couldn't even manage an appreciative smile he was shaking so bad. He slipped his arms into the flannel jacket and pulled it tightly around himself to absorb the warmth as he and Raphael began their unsteady trek out of the woods.

- - - - -

Another twenty minutes had passed, and April and the rest of the turtles were waiting anxiously in the livingroom for Raphael and Casey's return. They were all just about ready to get up and go look for the two themselves when the door was flung open and they stepped through, shivering.

"Close the door, you're letting cold in!!" Mikey shrieked at them.

"Shut up Mikey," Raph snarled through clenched teeth so that they couldn't chatter.

"You guys look half frozen!" April exclaimed worriedly as she and Leonardo rushed them over to the couch and Donatello grabbed some blankets, snatching away Mikey's.

"Hey!" the orange-banded turtle complained. At Leonardo's glare Michelangelo shut his mouth with a sheepish smile. "Uh, I'll go make some hot tea." he said as he left the room.

"Casey, where _were _you?" April asked, throwing another heavy blanket around him and Raphael.

"I found him stuck in some net up a tree," Raphael answered for him and Casey just nodded to confirm.

"Why don't you two come stand by the fire, it'll warm you up." Donatello suggested.

Casey and Raphael both got up off the couch, pulling the blankets around them and dragging them toward the wood stove.

"I got tea!" Mikey announced after a few minutes as he came back into the livingroom, handing a cup to both Raph and Casey.

April looked questioningly at Casey with soft, caring eyes. He hadn't said a word since they'd come inside. She watched as he sipped at the hot tea and sat down with Raph in front of the stove as Donnie and Leo brought them chairs from the kitchen. She walked up beside him and put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up at her. "Casey, your lips are blue." she said with wide eyes.

"_Cuh-cuh_-'cuz I'm f-freezin'." he chattered in response, his body shivering uncontrolably.

"Yeh, he was out there for a long time." Raphael said, glancing up at April. He was no longer shivering, and his teeth had thankfully stopped chattering once he had warmed up some.

April worriedly stared at the two along with Donatello, Mikey, and Leo.

"Why don't we all get some sleep. I'm sure you'll feel better after you're well-rested." Donnie suggested with a friendly, caring smile as he scanned around the room with his eyes, noticing they all could use the rest. Worrying can really tire a body out.

- - - - -

Suggesting that both Casey and Raphael got roommates during the night just in case there were any ill-effects from being out in the cold so long, April had assigned Donatello to stay in the same room with Raph, while she dragged in a sleeping bag and set it on the floor in Casey's room beside the bed. She had an inkling that both he and Raphael would most certainly have horrible colds, or something of the like, in the morning.

Michelangelo slept on the couch downstairs by the fire so he could get up every so often and make sure it was still going strong, adding in another log from the nearby pile if need be. Leonardo took up sleep on a futon in another one of the spare rooms.

April stood leaning over Casey's bed a moment, then finally tossed another blanket over his sleeping form before settling into her sleeping bag and surprisingly easily falling asleep.

- - - - -

**Note: **Please review!!!


	3. Chapter III

**Note: **Some aspects from Casey's dream were taken from the TMNT comic based on the new 'toon, issue entitled, **"Meet Casey Jones" **like the episode. I haven't seen the episode yet (sadness) so I dunno how alike they are.

**Shadow Games: III**

He was having another dream, or rather, a nightmare. But this time it was for different reasons, mainly because of his new-found delirium caused by the biting cold that must have made him sick.

_Casey was back in his old house, he was a little boy again, worrying about his Dad and the protection money wanted by the Purple Dragons. He cowered in the room with his back against the wall as his father stomped toward him carrying a look of disapproval. _

_"What did I tell you?!" his father shouted, waving a fist in the air. He was a big, intimidating man, and his thick mustache twitched with his yelling. Yelling that seemed directed at his son. "The Jones' don't give up boy! We ain't quitters, how many times I gotta tell you that?" he angrily lurched forward and punched his meaty fist into the wall just as Casey slumped down the wall to avoid being hit, though he didn't really think his father quite meant to strike him. _

_"I'm sorry Dad," Casey mumbled, his lower lip trembling. "I didn't mean it...I just thought - I thought if you paid the Dragons they'd leave us alone..." he trailed off, seeing the disappointment in his father's stare._

- - - - -

April woke as she heard Casey's incoherent mumbling while he tossed and turned in his sleep. She sat up slowly, crawling out from her sleeping bag and getting to her feet. A brow raised in sympathy and confusion as the mumbling became more coherent.

_"I'm sorry Dad, I didn't mean it...." _Casey whispered in his sleep, his face scrunching up while he bit his lower lip.

Leaning over the bed, April noticed the sheet of sweat over his face and tentatively reached out a hand to touch his forehead.

- - - - -

_His father's hardware store had just been burnt to the ground, his Dad nowhere in sight. Young Casey was kneeling on the street, tears trailing down his cheeks. He looked up to see a group of Purple Dragons thugs heading toward him._

_Words were spoken and everything in the dream had suddenly gone into fast-forward. _

_The next thing he knew, Casey was stabbing a teenaged Hun in the leg with half of a broken bottle, and after that the Dragons were beating on him. They were hitting him so hard and with such a fury, he just wanted the pain to stop._

- - - - -

Casey suddenly flinched from April's gentle touch as if she was hurting him. A strangled cry of, _"No, leave me alone," _escaped from his lips as he pulled away only to roll off the other side of the bed in a tangle of blankets, landing on the old wooden floor with a soft _thud_.

"Whoa, Casey!" April rushed around the bed to find that he was still asleep, still caught up in his dream. It wasn't unusual for her to witness Casey coming out of a nightmare, but this time it was a little something more.

He curled up on the floor and flinched as if someone was kicking and punching him, and he was feebly trying to block the attacks. Casey's expression twisted into pain as shaky hands moved up to block his face.

"Casey!" April called out, trying to keep her voice steady and firm as she reached for his shoulder. "It's a dream Casey, no one's hurting you. Wake up!"

Opening his bleary eyes and groggily pushing himself off the floor, Casey tried to focus on the person in front of him, but the blurry shape just formed into one of his tormentors. He flinched as if he was a little boy again. "Gah!" Ducking out of the way, he found himself leaning back against the floor again.

"It's me Casey, it's April!" she said, concern written across her face.

Donatello was suddenly standing in the doorway, his eyes wide. "I heard all the noise, what's going on?"

Wild blue eyes flashing toward the turtle, Casey leaned further into the wall and floor as if he was trying to sink into them. In his mind it wasn't Donatello who had entered the room, it was Hun, and he was just a little kid who had let his family down.

The turtle grew a very confused expression at Casey's reaction, but didn't step forward another step in worry for what would happen next.

April's worried gaze turned to him. "Donnie, I think Casey's got a fever, he's delusional." she explained quickly, holding out a hand to keep him back. "I don't know who or _what _he's seeing, but it's not us."

"Calm down Casey, we're not going to hurt you. It's Donatello and April, we're your _friends_." Donnie said soothingly, still keeping his distance so he didn't further upset the sick man.

Casey breathed heavily for several moments, then opened and closed his eyes tightly a few times and shakily climbed to his feet. As he focused on the two others in the dark room again, he could clearly see they were not his foes and relaxed a little, but was still having trouble deciphering which was a dream and which had really happened.

Testily stepping a little closer to Casey and motioning for Donnie to slowly do the same, April bent down and picked up a fallen blanket. When Casey didn't flinch or move away, she gently draped it over his shoulders. "Why don't you lay back down, okay?"

Nodding distantly, Casey absently rubbed at his left side and grimaced. His ribs were hurting a little from his tumble off the bed.

"You okay?" Donatello asked, noticing the change in his expression.

"Yeh," Casey's answer was very brief and automatic as he climbed back onto the bed and laid down, running a hand over his face to wipe away some of the sweat.

Donnie moved beside the bed and reached out to place his palm on Casey's forehead. He then pulled back and looked to April with a nod. "You're right, he does feel feverish."

April frowned with a quiet sigh. "Is Raphael okay?"

"He's fine," Donatello nodded. "Sleeping, snoring, he's alright. By his snoring it sounds like he's a little congested, but I'm sure he'll be fine. A mild cold."

Casey shivered and groaned, pulling the many blankets tighter around himself like a mummy while he laid in bed. He let out a long sigh and rolled on his side while closing his eyes.

Turning her attention back to Casey, April sat down on the side of the bed and carefully touched his shoulder. "Do you need anything?" she asked softly.

_"Mrmf," _was the mumbled, under-the-blankets response she got in return.

"I'll take that as a _no_, but I'm going to bring you some Tylenol anyway to get the fever down." Glancing over at Donnie, April said, "Can you go downstairs and make sure Mikey isn't about to set the house on fire by stuffing too many logs into the wood stove?"

"Sure," he nodded with a partial smile, then left the room.

Before following him out, April sat there a moment just staring at Casey. She couldn't deny she had feelings for him, that she'd felt this way for awhile, but how would she let him know? Did he feel the same way? Of course they teased eachother and occasionally flirted, but was it more than that?

- - - - -

Warming sunlight shone through the front windows of the old farmhouse, warming the wooden floors within by the light and betraying the coldness that lay just outside those barriers. It was a bright yellowish-white morning sun, and the sky was a beautiful baby blue with thick puffy clouds dabbled in just the right places so it looked almost just like a scenic painting.

Inside, Raphael and Casey both sat on the couch wrapped in heavy blankets and revelling in the warmth from the sun shining through the windows and the roaring fire from the wood stove. The tv was on in front of them, remaining on _The_ _Food Network _after nearly half an hour arguing over the remote to the point where they no longer cared what they watched. Besides that, there wasn't much on tv early in the morning. The two had been up since six a.m. much to April and Donatello's chagrin since they had been woken up by them.

At first, Donatello hadn't thought that his brother Raphael had been affected much from the other night, but by morning the turtle had a stuffy nose, and sore throat while his friend Casey had been outside in the bitter weather longer, and ended up with a high fever and cough.

"Here's some tea guys," Donatello said quietly so as not to wake his remaining sleeping brothers while he set the mugs down on the coffee table.

"Thanks Donnie," Raphael said, his voice sounding very congested and hoarse.

"Either of you two want something to eat?"

"We got some o' those frozen waffles in the freezer..." Casey started, glancing over at Donatello standing beside the couch.

Donnie nodded then began heading out of the room. "Okay, I'll pop a couple in the toaster-oven for you guys."

A smirk graced Raphael's face as he nudged Casey. "Hey, with service like this maybe we should get sick more often, eh Case?"

"Don't even think about it Raph!" Donatello teasingly growled from the hall.

Casey snorted a laugh and leaned back on the couch to rest his head against the old overstuffed cushions. A sudden hand reaching out to touch his forehead caused him to jerk slightly to the side and look up and over his shoulder to find April standing behind the sofa. "Jeeze April, don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry," she smiled a little bashfully. "I thought you were sleeping." April came around from behind the couch and sat down on the armrest. "You still feel pretty warm." she told him with slight concern in her eyes as she gently touched his forehead again with the back of her hand.

"That's 'cuz he's a hot-head." Raphael snickered, butting in before taking a sip of tea to soothe his sore throat.

Casey glared at his green pal in mock anger before a look of indifference crossed his face and he shrugged at April's assessment. "I feel fine." Then, to undermine his words, he was suddenly consumed by a coughing fit.

Frowning a little, April patted his back and stood up, putting her hands on her hips. "Right. You're fine." she shook her head, then started to walk off. "I'll go see if we have any cough syrup."

"See if ya got anythin' for stuffy noses too!" Raph called hoarsely before she went out of sight.

- - - - -

"Water heater's all fixed!" Donatello announced as he climbed up the cellar stairs, wiping his hands off on an old rag and setting down his tool box.

"Thanks Donnie." April smiled at him, then curiously raised an eyebrow and looked around the empty livingroom. There were no voices that she could tell, and the tv was off, which was unusual. "Where is everybody?"

Donatello shrugged and picked up his tool box again to bring it out to the Battle Shell. "Not sure." He paused a moment and frowned. "But Raph and Casey should be resting." Shaking his head, the purple-clad turtle headed outside, closing the door quickly behind him so little heat could escape.

Stumped as to where the others were, April sighed and wandered over to the stove to add in another log.

- - - - -

After putting away his tool box, Donatello was heading back into the warm farmhouse when something caught his eye. His brothers Raphael and Mikey were sitting on the roof with Casey, staring out into the woods before they noticed him. "What the shell are you guys _doing _up there?!" he shouted, staring up at them, dumbfounded.

"_SHH!_" Mikey called down to him with a finger raised in the typical _'shushing' _motion.

Figuring he wasn't going to get an answer unless he was actually up there, Donatello easily climbed up on top of the Battle Shell, then planted his staff and launched himself up and onto the roof. He landed softly in a crouch and moved over to where everyone was sitting. "_Now_ will you tell me what you're doing?" he asked, resting both hands on the tip of his staff as he patiently waiting for an answer.

Raphael and Casey remained silent, still staring off into the woods as if they expected something other than trees and undergrowth to be there.

"Raph and Casey both saw something or some_one _out in the woods last night," Michelangelo began explaining as Donatello took a seat beside him, resting his staff behind his heels as he bent up his knees. "That's why Case was out there in the first place."

"_Shadow soldiers_." Casey said quietly without shifting his gaze.

Donatello looked from Casey and Raphael to Mikey skeptically, but listened on.

"That's what he's calling them now," Michelangelo jerked a thumb toward his human friend before continuing. "So he went out chasing these _shadow soldiers _and got caught in one of their traps. That's how Raph found him. And when Raphie-boy went looking for Casey, he heard something, then felt someone brush up against him, but when he turned around there was nothing there."

Donatello sighed and rolled his eyes. "That doesn't mean there's something or some_one _lurking around the woods out there." He pointed toward Casey and Raphael who were wearing heavy clothes and wrapped in blankets where they sat on the roof. "_They're_ sick, and Casey's delusional from fever." he shook his head and stood up.

"No," Mikey started defending them. "Casey started seeing these shadow people slipping inbetween the trees and stuff _before _he got sick. He saw them the morning before we came, and then again while we were playing ninja hide-and-seek."

Frowning, Donatello still shook his head, not willing to believe there were shadow things creeping around the woods until he had scientific proof. "So you guys have been sitting out here looking for them?"

"I figure we'll see more of 'em runnin' around when it gets dark." Casey said quietly.

Raphael turned to his brother, noticing Donatello's unbelieving look. He grumbled and stood up, snarling. "Fine, don't believe us Donnie! I don't even care." he growled, pulling his blanket with him as he went over to the upstairs window and climbed in.

Frowning, Casey got up and followed Raphael inside, leaving Michelangelo standing there with Donatello on the roof.

"Nice goin' Donnie, you got them all mad," Mikey shook his head and gestured toward the window. "I believe them, even though I haven't seen anything myself yet. I mean, what if these shadow dudes are after all of us or something? What if they wanna cook our brains or-"

Donatello sighed and began walking toward the window that Casey had left wide open after he crawled through it. "You've been watching the _Sci-Fi _channel _way_ too much Mikey."

"_Hmph_," Michelangelo scowled with mock-offense and then realized he was all alone. "Hey, wait for me!" he squeaked, rushing toward the window to catch up.

- - - - -


	4. Chapter IV

**Note: **Sorry this kinda took awhile. I was hopin' ta finish writing chapter 5 before I put 4 out, but oh well. x-0; Ooh, I loved this morning's episode, "The Lesson". Little Casey was so adorable!!! _::gushes:: _Hehe. Thanks for the reviews! Don't worry **AbsoluteOmega**, there's Casey/April-ness ta come. _::winks:: _And **BubblyShell22**, you're just about to find out where Leo's been.Enjoy!

**Shadow Games: IV**

"Where's Leo?" April asked as Donnie, Mikey, Raph, and Casey trudged down the stairs.

"Right here." Everyone turned to look as said turtle walked through the door, sheathing his twin katanas. After a moment's pause he said by way of explanation, "I've been practicing with some of the make-shift training dummies Don set up in the barn." He smiled, giving a nod toward his genius brother. "They work pretty good."

Donatello smiled proudly.

April raised an eyebrowin confusion and slightly held up one hand to point tentatively toward the staircase. "Donnie, I didn't see you go upstairs..." she began, then looked to Mikey, Raph, and Casey. "And where were you three? I haven't heard any footsteps up there for atleast an hour."

Donatello sighed, jerking his thumb toward the trio. "I hopped up on the roof from outside when I saw these chuckleheads sitting up there."

April's mouth started to open when she grasped what the turtle had just said. "Outside on the roof?!" She frowned deeply and managed to look menacing while staring at Casey, Raph, and Mikey, but more-so Casey and Raph. All three took a slight step back. "You two should know better than to be outside in that cold when you're already sick! And Mikey, you shouldn't be encouraging them. We don't need anyone else sick around here!"

"Sorry April," Michelangelo had the good decency to smile apologetically.

Leonardo started to back out of the room and sneak off into the kitchen. "I think it's time I made myself a late lunch..." he said quietly and mostly to himself as he quickly slipped away.

Donatello held a similar scowl to April, especially since he knew why the three were out on the roof and didn't believe their story in the least.

"You two," April pointed at both Raphael and Casey, "Upstairs. Bed. Now.From this point on you're bothstaying in the spare room with the twin beds."

Sighing and feeling slightly shameful with April staring at them sharply, Casey and Raphael adjusted the blankets over their shoulders and started their march back up the steps.

"I guess I'll go heat them up some soup or something." Donatello said to April as he too turned to the kitchen where Leo had previously taken off.

Mikey stood there fidgeting, awaiting some kind of punishment, but April suddenly began to leave the livingroom. Michelangelo grinned and did a small victory jump while punching the air. "Wahoo, off the hook!" he cheered a little too loudly.

Turning around in the doorway, April pointed over to the wood stove. "Mikey, you're on fire duty tonight."

Michelangelo scrunched up his face in a frown as his shoulders slumped. "Aw man, not again..." he groaned, smacking his forehead with a heavy sigh.

- - - - -

"That's why they were out there?" April exclaimed with disbelief after just hearing from Donatello what Mikey told him up on the roof.

Donnie shrugged and nodded, glancing over at Leo who was sitting and listening as well. "Yeh, that's what Mikey said, and Casey and Raph didn't disagree, so I'm assuming they really told Mikey that's what happened out there and he isn't making it up."

"Hm," April leaned back against the couch and contemplatedly stared off into space for a moment.

"I don't know why, but I'm almost inclined to believe them." Leonardo partially shrugged, folding his legs underneath him from where he sat on the floor in front of the sofa. The serious line his mouth soon shifted a little as he eyed both April and Don. "Almost."

"Yeh..." Donatello drifted off, studying the eleven o' clock News as it flickered on the television set when he switched channels. "But as a scientist, I'm almost curious to conduct a study and see if there really is anything out there."

"_Hmph_." Leo crossed his arms and glanced at April. "What do you think?"

April sighed, slapping her palms softly on her thighs as she got up from the couch. "I think it's getting late and we should get to bed before we all start seeing things."

There was a sudden snort from the sleeping turtle curled up on a beanbag chair in front of the tv.

Leonardo glanced at his sleeping brother. "Look's like Mikey's _conveniently _neglecting his fire duties." He shook his head with a partial smile.

Donatello and April both let out soft laughs before the purple-clad turtle started towards the warm stove. "I'll go add in a few logs before bed."

"Thanks Donnie." April nodded to him, snatching another blanket from the back of the couch and draping it over Michelangelo before she turned to head up the stairs.

- - - - -

Upstairs in one of the smaller guest rooms, Casey laid awake on the small twin bed across the room from his pal Raphael who was seemingly asleep on the other bed. The pillows behind him were propped up high in attempts to prevent him from coughing too much, though he couldn't really see how that helped. April had been in the, now dubbed, 'Sick Room', a little while ago to give Casey and Raphael something like _Nyquill _or _Tylenol Cold & Flu _so they could rest easier with their cold symptoms.Earlier Michelangelo had scribbled a misspelled: **QUaRiNTeEN'd** on a piece of construction paper and taped it to the outside of the door.

Still staring across the room above the door where the wall met the ceiling, Casey let out an uncomfortable sigh and glanced to his right at Raphael's bed. "You think I'm crazy Raph?" he asked suddenly, quietly as if he knew his friend wasn't really asleep, or wasn't fully asleep.

"Yes." the turtle answered shortly before rolling onto his other side so that he was now facing Casey. At his friend's snort he added, "But not 'cuz o' this _shadow soldiers _business." he said with a slight smirk and a wink.

Casey's brows furrowed for a moment and he gave a quick nod of gratitude. "Thanks." He swiped a hand across his sweaty forehead a moment before sitting up and flinging off his blankets as his bare feet landed softly on the old wooden floor.

"What're ya doin'?" Raph asked, his eye-ridges furrowing as he propped himself up on an elbow. He cleared his throat and sniffled, reaching for the tissue box on the floor beside his bed.

"Ah, I can't sleep." Casey grumbled, leaning forward and rubbing the back of his neck with a slight grimace. He let out a sigh, then snatched his previously disguarded shirt off the floor and pulled it on, standing up and also grabbing his pants from the floor and putting them on over his boxers. "I gotta go out there....see if I can find anythin'. I need more proof that these guys're out there." he grumbled, shaking his head and glancing over at Raphael as he, too, climbed out of bed and began looking for some heavy, warm clothes.

"I'm comin' with you then." the turtle said firmly as he found a big hooded sweathshirt and pulled it on before blowing his nose and stuffing more tissues into the sweatshirt's big front pocket.

"Going somewhere boys?" a soft, sweet voice called gently from the doorway.

Casey and Raph both froze.

Raphael cleared his throat and partially smiled as he looked up and met April's sturdy gaze. "I was just uh, gettin' somethin' warm ta put on. I was a little chilly." he lied, tugging on the bottom of his sweatshirt before crawling back into his bed. "Yep, all nice an' toasty now."

Casey knew he had to come up with something quick, and using the same lie as Raph wasn't a good idea. Instead, he decided on telling the truth. Well....half the truth. "I couldn't sleep." he turned his head away slightly, scratching the back of his head and hoping April wouldn't sense he wasn't telling her everything.

Of course April knew that Casey was hiding something, but she didn't press the issue further. Instead, she was more concerned with the beads of sweat on his forehead and the paleness of his complexion. Her brows furrowed worriedly and she reached up a hand to gently touch his face.

"What?" Casey pulled away slightly, giving April that one-eyebrow-raised, quizical look.

"Uh, it's just..." the redhead fumbled a moment, suddenly transfixed by his clear blue-eyed gaze. _I suddenly have the urge to kiss you. _She thought, shaking her head and clenching her eyes shut, causing Casey to give her a strange look again.

"Are _you _okay April?" he asked with a brow still raised.

"Yeh," her smile wavered sheepishly and she turned toward the door, composing herself before speaking in more than one word. "Why don't you come downstairs and sit by the warm fire for awhile, you're not looking too good."

"I'm...okay," Casey just mumbled quietly, glancing back into the room at Raphael who was pretending to have fallen back asleep. He didn't want to pass up a chance to be around April. He felt compelled to be around her, but he didn't want Raphael or the other turtles to know how much he really cared for the smart, spunky redhead. Somehow he thought that would be looked at like a weakness, even though unbeknownst to him, the turtles had known Casey and April both had something for eachother for a while.

"Come on," April coaxed gently as she reached back and grabbed his wrist to pull him out into the hall.

Raphael peered from under his covers with one eye opened when he heard Casey and April leave. "Why don't they just kiss an' get it over with?" he mumbled to himself with a slight smirk, shaking his head before yawning and rolling over to actually go to sleep.

- - - - -

Casey had followed April into the livingroom, though as she veered toward the wood stove he started walking more toward the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" April turned to him with furrowed brows, her face washed over with concern and mild confusion. His face was ashen and he looked as though something was seriously wrong.

Shaking his head, Casey waved a hand dismissively toward the stove. "Ah, I'm feelin' kinda hot. I jus' wanna get some fresh air." That was partially true, though he wanted to go outside for other reasons too...such as to look for the shadow soldiers.

April frowned. "It's the fever that's making you feel hot and cold Casey, you shouldn't be going outside."

It was no use, he wasn't going to listen. "I jus'...want some fresh air." Casey breathed out the words softly as if he had no energy left. He felt suddenly weakened and slightly dizzy. Reaching out for the doorframe to grasp onto, his knees suddenly buckled, and as he clenched his eyes shut and opened them to focus, he began slumping to the floor.

"Casey!" April rushed toward him, putting a hand to his forehead as he leaned weakly on the wall from his new seat on the floor. "You're burning up bad," she whispered mostly to herself, biting her lower lip.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" a sleepy voice mumbled as the tired turtle the voice belonged to slowly lumbered into the kitchen.

"Mikey!" April cried, turning to glance quickly at the sleepy turtle. "Go get me a bowl of cool water and a washcloth, please!"

Michelangelo scratched absently at the back of his head until he noticed Casey slumped on the floor, his head soon being cradled in April's lap. His eye ridges furrowed as he started to grab a pan from under the cupboard to put water in. "Whoa, you want me to go get Donnie?"

"No," April shook her head. "I can take care of it, I don't want to bother your brother again." She remembered how he had been woken abruptly the other night when Casey had been delusional. She didn't want to trouble him if it was something she could deal with, and she figured she could. If anything serious happened, April knew enough to get Donatello for help.

Mikey just nodded as he rushed about to quickly do as April had asked.

Casey stared up at the wooden beams that laced the ceiling of the old farmhouse's kitchen as he laid with his head in April's lap. He was comforted by the fact that she was there, caring for him even though she really didn't have to.

Michelangelo soon thrust the pan of cool water into April's hand, splashing up some in the process. "Oops, sorry April." he smiled sheepishly.

"It's okay Mikey," she assured him with a careful smile, taking the washcloth and dipping it in the water before delicately washing it over Casey's sweaty face.

His eyes drifted toward hers for a moment before he settled to keep them closed for awhile. He took in a long concentrated breath and let it out slowly, willing his body temperature to cool down so he could rest. _Guess I'm not goin' ta chase shadows t'night after all, _he thought while laying there.

April looked over at Michelangelo who was still standing there in case he was needed. She smiled gently and gestured toward the livingroom. "Why don't you go put another log in the fire, then go on back to sleep. We're okay here, thanks."

Mikey just nodded with a partial smile before he yawned. "Okay. 'Night then." As he left he contemplated whether he should just go back to sleep in the livingroom or share a room with Don or Leo. He decided he might get better sleep in an actual bed and wandered off toward Leo's room as quietly as he could manage.

Casey opened his eyes again and put a hand to his head with a soft groan as he pushed himself to a sitting position.

"Take it easy," April warned softly as she shifted to her knees and dropped the washcloth back into the pan of water.

"I think...I jus' got a little too warm there for a minute," Casey said with a crooked smile as he turned himself around to lean his back against the wall.

April knew the act all too well. He just wanted to pretend he was fine, even though it was obvious he wasn't. She couldn't help but stare at Casey's well-formed pectorals and abs as he slowly pulled the t-shirt he wore over his head and let it rest in his lap. Averting her gaze and shifting to his eyes, she frowned slightly. "You don't want to get dehydrated from the fever. C'mon over to the couch and I'll get you a glass of water."

Sitting there a moment and swiping a forearm across his sweaty brow, Casey studied the floorboards as he breathed in and out heavily. He was dizzy from feeling so overheated and needed a moment for the feeling to pass.

"You okay?" April asked gently as she stood. She watched as Casey rose a hand, signaling for her to give him a minute. Atleast, that's what she figured the gesture meant. Waiting patiently, April noticed him look up and begin to get to his feet. She immediately reached for his arm and helped him up, then they both tredded carefully toward the sofa in the livingroom.

As he flopped down into the soft cushions, Casey let out a barely audible groan.

"Still feeling warm?" April looked to him with obvious worry in her eyes as she came back from the kitchen and handed him a glass of water and the damp cloth from the pan she'd left on the kitchen floor.

Casey nodded, then muttered a raspy, "Thanks," gulping down the glass of water and swiping the damp cloth over his face and chest, settling to let it rest on the back of his neck as he leaned forward. He was suddenly feeling much cooler, so he pulled the washcloth off his neck and tossed it on the coffee table before laying back on the couch cushions tiredly and putting his feet up.

When April next looked over at Casey she saw that he had fallen asleep. She smiled faintly while sitting down softly beside him on the couch and pulling a blanket over them both. Leaning against his shoulder and slumping down further in the cushions, April closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

- - - - -


	5. Chapter V

**Shadow Games: V**

"I saw 'em! I saw 'em!!" Michelangelo exclaimed loudly as he leapt down the stairs, waking everyone else in the farmhouse that had previously been fast asleep.

"Mikey, be quiet!" Leonardo groaned, sleepily coming down the steps and rubbing his eyes as he adjusted his blue mask.

"Saw who?" April mumbled groggily as she straightened from her previously sleeping position against Casey's shoulder on the couch. She tossed the rumpled blanket over him before standing up and stretching.

"I saw the shadow soldiers that Raph an' Casey saw! I really saw them!" Mikey said excitedly, waving his arms around.

"Mikey, what in the shell are you babblin' about?" Raph muttered grumpily as he trudged down the old wooden steps with a blanket wrapped around him and a tissue in one hand.

"The shadow soldiers Raphie!" Michelangelo grabbed hold of Raphael's shoulders once he was downstairs, suddenly releasing him when he recieved a glare that clearly said 'hands off'. "Eh...heh." Grinning sheepishly Mikey dropped his arms by his sides, then ran for the chair beside the couch and somersaulted into it.

"C'mon Mikey, there's no _shadows soldiers_," Donatello said as he walked into the livingroom to stand in the doorway to the kitchen, leaning against his bo staff.

"No," Michelangelo persisted, "I really saw them! I woke up around midnight, and I thought I heard something outside so I went over to the window and that's when I saw them! Two of them actually, weaving in and out of the trees."

Donatello sighed and shook his head. "Mikey, you couldn't have seen them. These _shadow soldiers _are just delusions created by Casey and Raph. They don't really exist!"

"They do too! I ain't crazy." Casey defended, yawning tiredly and sitting up on the couch to lean forward and rest his elbows on his knees. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking around at everyone else in the room. He didn't seem to notice that April had been with him the entire night.

"There could be an argument there." Leonardo muttered with a smirk, but Casey didn't bother to acknowledge if he heard the remark or not.

April glanced back at Casey and sat down beside him again, placing the back of her hand against his forehead. "Your fever seems to have gone down quite a bit."

"Yeh," he smiled crookedly at her as if for a moment everyone else just faded away. "I feel fine."

"How are _you _feeling Raphael?" April looked over at the red-clad turtle, breaking her gaze away from Casey.

"Ticked off." the turtle grumbled, crossing his arms and scowling.

Michelangelo laughed. "Raph, you're _always _ticked off. Hehe."

"Judging by the slightly stuffed and hoarse sound in his voice, I'd say Raph's still congested." Donatello supplied when his brother never really answered April's question.

Raphael just scowled and blew his nose as he shuffled over to the couch and sat down.

Casey suddenly stood up, throwing his blankets back. "Okay, so who's with me ta track down these guys an' see what's goin' on!?"

"Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!!" Mikey jumped up and down, waving his arms around in the air. "I'll go!"

"I'm with ya Case." Raph nodded toward his friend, ignoring the looks from Leo and Don.

Donatello nudged Leo's arm. "Hey, what do you say we work on programming more training sequences with those dummies I rigged up in the barn?"

"I'm there." Leonardo nodded and the two walked outside.

April stared sternly at Raphael, Casey, and Michelangelo with her hands set firmly on her hips. "There's no way you guys are going out there. Casey and Raph you've already got colds, do you want pneumonia too?"

"April, I'm fine. Even _you _said my fever was gone." Casey went over to the kitchen and picked up his shirt from the floor where he'd left it last night. He pulled the shirt on over his head and started toward the stairs.

"I said it went down," April corrected with a frown. "And that doesn't mean it can't come back."

"Don't worry, I'll look after 'im." Raph patted her shoulder and smirked, then followed Casey upstairs to put on layers of clothes before they went out.

Sighing loudly, April slapped a hand against her forehead and sunk into the sofa as Michelangelo rushed up the stairs, not to be left alone to get scolded by the furious redhead.

- - - - -

Raphael, Michelangelo, and Casey trudged through the woods, wearing enough layers to clothe atleast twelve people. They decided on heading to the spot where Casey had gotten caught in a trap and strung up a tree, because that seemed like the most obvious place to start looking for clues on these _shadow soldiers_.

Raph pulled a tissue from his sweatshirt pocket and blew his nose, sniffling loudly as they approached the clearing where he'd found Casey the other night.

Mikey jumped slightly from the sudden noise and turned to glare at his brother, which gained him a smack upside the head.

"Keep walkin' Mikey!" Raph growled.

"Over here guys!" Casey spotted the broken net still strung up the tree. When he was standing right beside it, he studied the frayed rope that Raphael had cut with his sais to set him free.

"Look, footprints!" Michelangelo exclaimed, pointing to some tracks in the slightly muddy ground below the net.

"Those're me an' Casey's prints shell-for-brains!" Raph grumbled, smacking his brother upside the head again.

"Ow," Mikey complained, rubbing the back of his head and frowning.

"What about those?" Casey pointed to a different set of prints.

"See! I was on to something! Nyah-nyah!" Mikey grinned and stuck his tongue out at Raphael.

The sniffling turtle just ignored him while he crouched down and examined the footprints. "Hm. These look like military boots treds."

Casey raised an eyebrow. "Think it's some militia whackbags?"

"Dunno," Raphael wiped his nose again. "Might really be military. Special Ops maybe..." he trailed off when he heard a loud snap from behind.

"Oops, sorry." Michelangelo grimaced and lifted his foot, pointing to the ground. "Stepped on a twig. Heh."

Raphael got up and glanced at Casey. "What do ya wanna do now?"

Casey coughed, then cleared his throat. "We come back here t'night."

Nodding, Raphael began following Casey out of the woods, Mikey soon hurrying to catch up.

- - - - -

Late that night, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Casey began sneaking downstairs, all bundled up and prepared to do a little _hunting_. Much to their surprise, as they had just about reached the door, a shadowy figure blocked their exit.

"April!" Mikey shrieked, cringing and smiling sheepishly as he prepared to get in trouble.

She stood with a knowing smirk, her arms crossed. April was just as bundled up as the three in front of her. "I know you guys are looking for those _things_, and I'm going with you."

"What?" Casey's mouth hung open in surprise.

"You believe us?" Raphael stared at the redhead skeptically.

"No," April put her hands on her hips, then pulled a flashlight from her heavy coat's pocket and slapped it against her palm. "But if these things you guys keep seeing are actually real, I want to know about it. I need assurance that I'm not in a house with three lunatics." she smiled slyly.

Casey grinned crookedly at April and just stared at her in a daze until Raphael nudged him.

"Er...right, so uh..let's get goin' then." April said quietly.

"Uh, right," clearing his throat, Casey nodded to April and she opened up the door and stepped outside, being followed by the trio.

- - - - -

The luring darkness seemed to be calling Casey, April, Raph, and Mikey as they tracked through the woods and returned to the spot of the hanging net. Michelangelo stopped, twirling his flashlight before sticking it under his chin and giving himself an eerie appearance. In a mock-horror narrator's voice he said, "It was a dark and spoooooky night-"

Raphael smacked the flashlight out of his brother's hand. "Mikey," he snarled with irritation.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Michelangelo rolled his eyes and picked up the fallen flashlight.

April stepped up beside Casey as she noticed him staring off into the dark contemplatedly. "What is it?" she whispered softly.

Casey's eyes scanned the dark shadows between the trees just outside the clearing. The moon wasn't terribly bright, and didn't give off near as much lighting as would have been useful. "There!" he shouted suddenly, pointing to the trees before taking off into the dark.

"Casey, wait!" April yelled, aiming her flashlight toward where he ran off as she headed after him.

"Guys!!" Mikey whined with a sigh, throwing his arms up in the air and looking to his brother.

Raphael cupped both hands on either side of his mouth and hollered, "Meet us back here in fifteen minutes if ya don't find anythin'!!!" he waited a moment but didn't get a response, and just hoped that April had heard him. Glancing over at his brother who was aiming his flashlight in all directions nervously, Raph sighed. "C'mon Mikey, let's go searchin' for shadow people." He then stalked off in the general direction where Casey and April went.

"Huh?" Mikey's eyes were wide and he jumped, fumbling with his flashlight before he found Raphael through the darkness, heading out of the clearing. "Wait for me!!" his voice suddenly grew high-pitched as he ran to catch up with Raph.

- - - - -

Darting through bushes, ducking under low branches, and weaving in and out of trees, Casey chased a shadow deeper and deeper into the spreading darkness. He didn't have a flashlight, but that didn't matter, he was determined to find out what he'd been seeing, whether it be soldiers or a squirrel wearing army boots. Casey didn't care, as long as he got some closure. He faintly noticed a light coming from behind him, and knew it was April following. He wasn't expecting to run into a dead end by way of a steep cliff edge that led down into a wide, flowing stream. Just managing to stop in time, he heard April skid to a halt behind him and slow herself by pressing against his back. "I lost 'im," Casey shook his head as he caught his breath.

April took a step back from the cliff edge, pulling Casey with her. With her flashlight hanging loosely from her hand and pointing to the ground, she just noticed the treds of a boot in the soft dirt. "Look," she pointed at the footprints, then to where they led off to the right.

Casey grinned partly and patted April's shoulder gently. "Good, let's go find these suckers."

Following after him again, April couldn't believe that there was actually something in the woods. The boot print she just found certainly prooved that. Shaking her head and quickening her pace, April turned off her light as she ran alongside Casey. "I better keep it off," she whispered, "It gives us away."

"Right," Casey grunted and kept on going, trying to keep alert for any sounds of breaking branches or loud footsteps. Whoever or whatever these guys were, they were no amateurs.

- - - - -


	6. Chapter VI

**Shadow Games: VI**

Leo stretched as he got out of bed with a yawn. With a raised eyebrow he looked to the floor where Michelangelo had been sleeping, but there was no one there. Heading out into the hall, he stopped just outside the room Donatello was in when he noticed a faint glow from under the door. Knowing that was a sure sign his bro was awake, Leo pushed the door open, spotting his brother sitting on the bed fiddling with his laptop.

Donatello looked up, rubbing his eyes and staring at Leonardo with a raised eyebrow. "What's up Leo?"

"Donnie, I thought maybe Mikey was bunking with you tonight?" Leo watched his brother curiously, as he shook his head.

"Nope," Closing his laptop, Don crawled off the bed and headed for the door where Leo stood. "I thought I heard someone heading downstairs about an hour ago, maybe he's down there."

"Something's not right..." Leonardo mumbled as he started out into the dark hallway. "It's too quiet."

Donnie followed Leo down the stairs, each brandishing thier weapons in case there was really something they should look out for. "Fire's gone out." he stated quietly, approaching the stove and gathering a few logs to throw in.

"Hmm.." Leo thoughtfully looked around, but there was no one in sight. "April, Casey, and Raph are gone too."

"How do you know?" Donatello stared at his brother suspiciously. "We haven't checked the other rooms yet."

Leonardo pointed to the floor mat by the door. "April and Casey's shoes are gone, and since Casey and Raph were sharing the same room, if Case went out, Raph probably went too."

Donnie crossed his arms over his chest. "Mikey went with them no doubt....probably searching for those shadow things." he shook his head and sighed.

Putting a hand to his chin thoughtfully, Leo stared at the door. "April wouldn't have just gone out on a wild goose chase with those chuckleheads unless she really thought something might be out there. And I'd trust her judgement on this."

With another sigh, Donatello nodded and patted his brother's shoulder. "Well, I guess we put on some warm clothes and go looking for them?"

Leo nodded. "Yep."

- - - - -

April tried following closely to Casey, but it was so dark and without using her flashflight, they were both being guided by pretty much sound alone. She heard his running footsteps get further and further away, and stopped suddenly to listen to which direction he was going. "Casey!" she whispered sharply, but she didn't hear him anymore. All she heard was the sound of the woods, and as she gazed up at the sky with wide green eyes, dotted white flecks of snow drifted down to the cold earth through the trees.

She heard a rustling noise from behind and began to turn, "Case-?!" a hand clasped over her mouth and in a tightened grip pulled her close to a solid body. April's eyes were wide with fear and her heart began racing. Flinging up her legs, April was about to flip her attacker over when she felt something cold and hard press against her temple. There was no doubt in her mind that it was a gun. Setting her feet back on the ground carefully, April stilled immediately, only to be suddenly released as her attacker was knocked sideways to the ground.

"April! You okay?"

She relaxed immediately at the voice and turned around, smiling with relief at the two turtles in front of her. "Leo! Donnie!"

"Are you okay?" Leonardo asked again, stepping forward.

"Yeh," she said quietly, her eyes drifting to her attacker that lay on the ground.

Donatello knelt next to him. He was out cold from Leo's kick. "Judging by his uniform and weapons, this guy looks military, probably special ops. Maybe a secret government faction?

Leonardo nodded in agreement. "Looks like Casey was right,"

"Yeh," Don couldn't help but smirk, "For once."

"Speaking of Casey," Leonardo looked to April. "Where is he? And Mike an' Raph too."

"We split up to search," April told him quietly, bowing her head a little. "I went with Casey, and Mikey and Raphael went together."

Donatello looked around as Leonardo dug through the pockets of the soldier's black vest, looking for anything useful. "So...where's Casey then?"

April frowned somewhat sadly. "I dunno, we got seperated just a moment ago."

Leonardo pulled off the soldier's black full-face mask and tossed it to his brother. "Take a look Don,"

Giving a quick evaluation of the mask, Donatello had already made a deduction. "It appears to have stealth technology built in. I'm betting his entire uniform is made of the same stuff."

"Hm, he's not a Foot Tech ninja." Leo gazed off thoughtfully before turning to April.

"What do we do with this guy?" she asked, pointing to the unconscious soldier.

Leo held up some black nylon repelling rope. "We tie him up and gag him. It's all we can do for now. We can't risk bringing him along and he's not going to give us any information."

April nodded her agreement. "Okay," she said softly as Donatello and Leo began hog-tying their prisoner. "Then we go look for Casey, Mikey, and Raph."

- - - - -

"Umm...Raph?" Mikey whispered, tapping his brother's shoulder.

Raphael let out a frustrated sigh. "What is it _now _Mikey?" he snarled, turning around to glare at the turtle.

"I think we're bein' followed," he whispered with an unsure look on his green face covered in shadows.

Rolling his eyes, Raph let out another sigh. "Last time ya said that it was a squirrel."

"Yeh..." Michelangelo nodded as Raph turned around again. "But I don't think squirrel's carry nine milimeter Baretta's."

"Huh?" Raph stopped in his tracks when he heard the clicking of a gun from behind them. Leaping to the air and doing a back-flip, the turtle landed directly behind the gun-toting soldier and struck a blow to the back of his head with his fist, knocking him to the ground, out cold.

Mikey leapt out of the way so the soldier didn't land on him. He smiled sheepishly. "Nice goin' Raphie-boy." he laughed quietly.

"C'mon Mikey, we gotta go," Raphael roughly grabbed his brother's arm and started to drag him away.

"Wait," Michelangelo pulled back with confusion. "Shouldn't we interrogate this dude or somethin'?"

"Not a good idea right now, we got comp'ny!!" Raph whispered as he pointed into the dark trees behind them.

Mikey looked back slowly, noticing the faint glow of greenish dots in the distance, approaching them quickly. "Whoa, what's with the lights?"

"Nightvision goggles would be my guess!" Raph tugged on Michelangelo's arm again, urging him to get moving. They dashed off into the trees, taking a jagged zig-zag course to put the shadow soldiers off their trail.

- - - - -

Casey ran full into the woods, his heart racing, but his mind was set on one thing: tracking down the shadow soldiers and finding out what the hell they'd been doing. He knew he had lost April sometime back, but he had faith that Mikey or Raph would run into her. Atleast, that's what he hoped. If anything happened to her he wouldn't forgive himself, because he cared about her. But there was no going back now. Even if he wanted to, Casey wasn't sure he'd be able to backtrack to where he'd gotten separated from her.

Seeing flashes of shadows darting in front of him, Casey focused on keeping track of the soldier he was currently chasing. But when the shadow led him straight into a small cave opening that went into a rocky cliffside, he got the sinking feeling that he was being led into a trap.

- - - - -

April's shoes crunched softly in the layer of snow that covered the ground as more white, fluffy flakes fell from the sky. She still held a flashlight, though it hung in her hand by her side, unused. It was much too risky to leave it on, making them an easy target for the shadow soldiers.

Leonardo suddenly stopped in his tracks, causing Donatello and April to do the same.

"What is it?" Don asked curiously, holding out his bo staff.

"We're not alone," Leo stated evenly, slowly drawing his katanas from their sheaths.

Standing completely still, April watched with wide eyes as four shadow soldiers sprang from the woods, immediately attacking Donatello and Leonardo. She remained unmoving, brows furrowed as she suddenly realized that these guys didn't see her as a threat at the moment...because they weren't even looking at her. Feeling slightly offended, yet deciding it was better to grasp the opportunity in front of her, April's eyes darted around as she was about to reach for a fallen tree branch and attack the soldiers. Instead, she noticed a faint glow further away in the distance. Drawn to the strange sight, she wandered off into the dark.

Leo ducked as a soldier leapt at him from behind. The stealth technology in their clothing and armor made it nearly impossible to hear their movement, but unlike the Foot Tech ninja's suits, they weren't completely invisible or with enhanced strength. The armor just cloaked them fully in black, making them blend easier in the shadows, but still slightly visible to the naked eye.

Kicking out behind one of the soldier's knees, Leonardo briefly watched him fall to the ground before spinning around and slicing the gun out of another's hand with one of his katanas.

The soldier gasped, then back-flipped away as the purple-clad turtle joined in and tried to strike with his staff. The warrior smirked beneath his mask, unsheathing a Bowie knife from his belt. This was the only shadow soldier left standing, the others were unconscious, or close to being so.

"Donnie, _"Invisible Dragon", _now!" Leonardo shouted the move at his brother, who nodded with affirmation.

The shadow soldier prepared himself for an attack from Donatello, and that's when Leo made his move. He summersaulted in the air, kicking the soldier in the head on his way down, and smiling as he landed and the man was grounded.

Donatello half-smiled at his brother and scratched the back of his head. "For a second there I thought you really wanted me to do it," he chuckled softly.

Leo sheathed his katanas and suddenly wiped the grin off his face as he scanned the area they stood in. His eyes shot over to his brother. "Where's April?!"

Looking around with wide eyes, Donatello began to fidget. "I - I dunno....When the fighting started I just lost sight of her!" he exclaimed worriedly.

"We have to find her!" Leo shouted, taking off into the woods with Donnie following close behind.

"Wait!" Donnie suddenly stopped, calling his brother back. The reflection from the fresh snow on the ground actually made it a little easier to see. He crouched to the ground as Leo backtracked over to him. "Footprints... They're April's!" he said hopefully, then pointed off into the woods. "They go off that way!"

Leonardo nodded and took off again. "Let's go!"

- - - - -

**Note: **Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase review!!!! Or I'll send Casey an' Raph over ta trash yer house. _::grins evilly:: _XP


	7. Chapter VII

**Note: **Thanks for the reviews!!! **AbsoluteOmega **an' **Sassy **(I'll send Raph over for ya anyways. _::winks:: _), you guys rock!!

**Shadow Games: VII**

Approaching where the dim light she'd seen was, April found that it was inside the mouth of a cave. She walked in, keeping as quiet as possible when she noticed a flashlight on the ground, it's light pointing out of the cave entrance. _That's the glow I saw, _she thought to herself, picking up the light and switching it off before sticking it in her coat pocket. Swallowing nervously, April ventured further into the cave, going down a long and narrow tunnel that appeared to have been man-made.

Coming to a fork in the tunnel, April paused and took a deep breath. Holding her breath, she froze, swearing that she could hear someone else breathing behind her. Spinning on her heel, April turned and kicked high, only to have her foot grasped firmly.

"Easy April, it's me!" Casey gently released the hold on her foot, dropping his arms to his sides and she relaxed.

"Jeeze, Casey!" she exclaimed with a sigh of relief. Rubbing her forehead a moment, April raised an eyebrow as Casey suddenly pulled her into the shadowy corner where he'd been hiding.

"Quiet," Casey whispered, suddenly smiling to himself as he realized how close they were at that moment. Blinking a few times and suddenly becoming serious again, he carefully released April as she leaned against the cave wall beside him.

"What are you doing in here?" she whispered, keeping her voice quiet as possible, but still making it audible.

"I followed one o' them shadow punks in here," Casey responded, being equally quiet. "I'm thinkin' it's a trap though..." he trailed off as April's eyes got wide and she stared off at the tunnel in the fork that went to the right. As his eyes shifted to where she was looking, Casey's mouth hung open slightly in shock.

The soldier Casey had followed into the cave (well, it was presumably the soldier he had followed, since they all looked the same in their uniforms and masks) was hefting a grenade launcher pointed at the rocks above Casey and April.

Pushing April out of the shadowy corner, Casey hollered, "Run, April! **RUN!**"

Forcing her legs to work, April stumbled forward a few steps before taking off toward the entrance where she had come into the cave. She noticed Casey was a few steps behind her, and she slowed down a little, green eyes wide with fear when she noticed the soldier fire the grenade launcher just above Casey. **"LOOK OUT!" **April screamed, yanking his arm and practicallyswinging him ahead of her toward the cave opening.

There was a thundering blast that seemed to shake the whole cave as an avalanche of rocks fell from the ceiling and created a wall.

Coughing slightly as the dust settled, Casey climbed to his feet after having been knocked down by the force of the blast and tumbling rocks. He squinted his eyes, horrified to see the collapsed ceiling that formed a barrier. **"APRIL!!" **he bellowed, forcing back tears at the thought of losing her. _She can't be dead, she can't be dead!!! No.... please no. _Without even a second thought, Casey began tugging loose rocks, yanking at even the big ones and just hoping that he could make a hole in the wall to get through.

- - - - -

"Did you hear that?!" Raphael glanced sharply at his younger brother, who was currently leaning up against a tree and catching his breath after they'd out-run a couple shadow soldiers.

Michelangelo just shook his head, straightening up again and staring at Raph skeptically. "Hear what?"

"Sounded like an explosion or somethin'...." Raph trailed off, then he waved an arm for Mikey to come with him and took off into the woods again.

"Wait, I'm still catching my breath!!" Mikey complained, shaking his head and obediently following after his brother.

- - - - -

Casey furiously yanked back pieces of the fallen cave ceiling, sweat beginning to drip from his brow with the great effort, and his hands starting to bleed as he practically clawed at the rough rocks. His face held a determined and almost anguished look as he worked, oblivious that a group of shadow soldiers were closing in on him.

- - - - -

"C'mon, we're almost there!" Leonardo yelled as he and Donatello continued following April's footprints, as they coincidentally were going in the same direction where the sound of the recent explosion had come from.

Donnie suddenly stopped short, pulling out his staff when he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. "Leo, wait! I don't think we're alone!"

In the following seconds, there was a shout, not too far away. It was a familiar voice. "Donnie!? Leo!? You guys out there?!"

"Raph! Mikey!" Leonardo returned the shout, sighing slightly with relief when both he and Donatello watched their brothers emerge from a cluster of pine trees.

"What are you guys doing out here? Thought you were sleeping?" Michelangelo blurted out the first thing on his mind.

"We _were_ sleeping," Donnie answered with a half smile. "When we realized everyone was gone, we figured something was up. We also guessed that you guys were chasing shadows. Leo and I caught one of them with April."

Mikey couldn't hide the smirk on his face. "So _now _you believe us."

Raphael butted in before anything else could be said. "Wait a sec, you caught one o' the soldiers with April?" he leaned from side to side as if looking behind Leo and Don to see if anyone was there. "Where is she? An' where's Case? He was with 'er."

"We just lost her when we were ambushed by a couple soldiers. She must have seen something and wandered off. Then we heard an explosion-" Leo had begun to explain when Raph cut him off.

"Yeh, we heard it too."

"Uh..guys?" Mikey pushed his way in between Leo and Raph. "Speaking of the explosion...Shouldn't we be off lookin' for the source?" he gestured into the woods.

"Right, let's move it!" Leonardo started running, quickly followed by Raph, Don, and Mikey.

- - - - -

The soldiers closed in on Casey, who was still focused on nothing besides getting April out of what he assumed would soon be a rocky grave. Only when an arm wrapped around his neck and pulled him backwards away from the rock pile did he realize he wasn't alone. He let out a short gagging noise as he was dragged back, then suddenly began flailing for all he was worth as another soldier jumped at him. Casey struggled harder, then he started hollering. "NO! APRIL!!! I gotta get 'er out!!! **APRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL!!**"

He had mopped the floor with three of the soldiers when the fourth decided to go for more extreme ways of brining him down. He pulled a black gun-like thing from his belt, pointed it at Casey's chest, and pulled the trigger. In an instant, wiry things shot out of the gun, little pokers imbedding themselves in Casey's skin through his layers of clothing, and shocking him with electricity.

A choked scream ripped through the cave entrance as Casey's face twisted in pain before the charge of electricity stopped and he slumped to the cold ground.

One of the grounded soldiers got to his feet with a satisfied grunt as he stared down at their victim. "He'll do. Bring around the ATVs, let's load him up and get out of here."

"What about some of our guys, they're still out there," a soldier with a smooth, younger voice piped up.

The soldier that had spoken before grunted. "Leave 'em. Now let's go." his voice was cold, emotionless.

The younger soldier obeyed without question, and the the other two took off to get the ATVs that were hidden near the cave.

- - - - -

Raphael started running faster, ahead of Leo, when he saw a bright, bluish-white flash before hearing an agonized scream. "There!" he shouted, pointing a little off to the left.

"That yell-" Leo broke off with terror-stricken wide eyes.

"Come on!" Raph urged his brothers on with fierce determination.

As they got closer and closer, Donatello heard the rumble of an engine, whereas Raphael and the others seemed more focused on the brief lightshow.

"We better hurry guys!" Donnie yelled to his brothers. "It sounds like someone's making a getaway!"

"Dude!" Mikey gasped, trying to keep up. "I'm goin' as fast as I can!! Whoa!" he barely made the jump over a low-lying tree branch, staggering a moment before full-out sprinting through the woods again.

Raphael soon skidded to a halt in the cave entrance, gawking at the pile of rocks that blocked the way. "Oh man..."

Mikey jogged up behind his speechless brothers and doubled over a moment to catch his breath. When he looked up, he noticed what they were all staring at. "Whoa..." his eyes darted between his brothers nervously. "Guys...you don't think..."

A muffled cry for help soon caught their attention. "Casey! Somebody! Please help!!"

"April!" Leonardo exclaimed, all four turtles automatically began digging through some already loosened rocks to make an exit.

It didn't take too long for the brothers to make a small tunnel that April thankfully crawled out of.

"Y'ok April?" Raphael helped her to her feet as she coughed from the debris and brushed some dirt off herself.

Her eyes widened with sudden desperation and she gasped. "Casey! Where is he?! I think he was trying to get me out, but he coudn't hear me and then-"

"He's not here," Mikey said quietly as Raph tried to put a comforting hand on April's shoulder.

Leonardo suddenly looked up with an apprehensive expression. "That scream we heard..." he trailed off as April's eyes became glassy and she covered a hand over her mouth.

"I think they took him." her lower lip quivered worriedly as Raphael glanced at her sympathetically.

Donatello was intently focused on the dirt layer of the cave entrance that was still untouched by snow. "Footprints. Military. Same as before." his eyes scanned further, going out of the cave where the prints were more clear on the fresh white powder.

Leo, Raph, Mikey, and April grew interested and closely followed Donnie.

Crouching low to the ground, Donnie gazed back at the others. "It looks as though they were dragging something..."

"Or some_one._" Mikey finished with an uneasy look on his face.

"Casey," April whispered desolately.

Raph growled and started pacing back and forth angrily, twirling his sais. "We gotta find these clowns who took 'im. Who the hell knows what they're gonna do. We don't even know their reason for bein' out here in the first place!" he nearly shouted.

"It's too late," Leo muttered as he gazed at the ground outside the cave, finding ATV tire tracks that explained the motors Donatello heard earlier. "Looks like they've already gone.." he trailed off, looking at April with an apologetic expression. "We should get back to the house," he said with a depleted sigh.

"No!" Raphael snarled, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists by his sides. "We can't leave Case behind, you _know _he'd never leave any of us Leo!"

April's lower lip quivered and she nodded, eyes watery. "He's right," she whispered shakily. "We can't help Casey if we get caught ourselves."

Donatello and Mikey both put a hand on each of April's shoulders. They then began a slow trudge back to the farmhouse, each hanging their heads in saddened defeat. Raphael hung back a little from the group, angered that he couldn't do anything at the moment to help his friend.

- - - - -


	8. Chapter VIII

**Note: **Thanks for the reviews guys!! I know, I know, I'm evil.... I separated April an' Casey! x-0; eep.. Forgive me!!

**Shadow Games: VIII**

It was almost daylight and still no sign of where the soldiers had taken Casey or why. Donatello hadbrought out some thermo-goggles from the Battle Shell and he and Raph went back to see if they could still trace the footprints. It was no use, the trail had gone cold and as it began snowing heavier the new flakes soon covered up old prints. It appeared that all the soldiers had high-tailed it out of there. With dispirited frowns, Raphael and Donatello went back to the farmhouse where the others were.

The four turtles sat in various places in the living room as April paced back and forth in front of the tv. "I hate being so helpless!" she cried suddenly with exasperation. "Isn't there _anything _we can do to find him?!" she was practically begging for answers, tears welling up in her bright green eyes.

Leonardo was the one to hesitantly speak up. "There's no way of knowing where the soldiers took him. He could be anywhere."

A frustrated growl came from where Raphael was sitting.

"We should all try getting some sleep," Donatello suggested quietly before noticing Mikey curled up on the floor on a bean bag chair.

"Don't worry April," Leonardo whispered in a caring tone as he got up from his seat on the couch and gently patted her shoulder. "We'll find him."

She hung her head as a tear spilled down her face, then ran up the stairs.

Donatello got up to go after her when Raphael stopped him. "She'll be okay Donnie," he said gruffly. Raph then headed up the stairs, glancing back at his two brothers that were awake.

"I'll be up in a minute," Leo said quietly as he gazed off toward the window.

Standing up slowly, Donnie patted Leo's shoulder before following Raphael solemnly up the creaky wooden steps.

- - - - -

Donatello had gone back into his room from before, shutting the door behind him and moving the laptop that he'd left on the bed. With a heavy, tired sigh, he flopped down on top of the blankets and fell asleep.

Stopping short before entering the dark room that he'd been sharing with Casey, Raphael heard quiet sobbing and leaned in the doorway for a moment. He managed to spot April curled up on Casey's bed, hugging the pillow tightly and crying into it. Shaking his head heavyheartedly, Raph left thesobbing woman alone and walked into the room Leo slept in. He grabbed an extra pillow and blanket from the bed, then laid on the floor under the window and tried to get some sleep.

- - - - -

The sounds of heavy footsteps on a concrete floor brought Casey back to consciousness. His bleary eyes scanned his location, but it didn't help any. He had no clue where he was, and it was dark. He groaned and managed to sit up, but he ached all over. Those guys really did a number on him with the electricity. _I'd really like ta pound the hell outta those clowns,_ he thought bitterly. Standing up shakily at first, Casey rubbed the back of his head, relieved that there were no cuffs or shackles on his wrists and ankles. With a bit of shock, he discovered that he'd been stripped of his clothing and shoes, and stood in a cold cell nearly naked in just his boxers. Casey grabbed onto the bars of his cell and snarled, "What kinda sick freaks are you guys?!" He huffed angrily, glaring at an average-sized soldier that approached his cell, coming into the light a little.

"The experimenting kind." the soldier answered with an all-too smug grin. His buzzed brown hair and pathetic attempt at a commanding military stance made him look like some sort of G.I. Joe reject.

Casey didn't like the sound of that at all. "What have you done with my pals?!" He shouted, reaching between the bars and pulling the soldier against them by the collar of his uniform. "Where are they?!"

The soldier reached for the back of his belt and pulled out a stun gun. He pressed it against Casey's arm and sneered. "Unless you want another dose of electricity, you'll let go. Now."

Staring at the soldier with a cold gaze, Casey released him and stepped back from the bars in his cell.

Straighting his wrinkled jacket, the soldier put the stun gun back and smirked. "I'm guessing by your "pals", you mean those weird mutated freaks some of my men dealt with." He grinned wickedly. "Don't worry, my boss doesn't want _them_, he wanted _you_."

Casey's blue eyes widened in confusion. He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes darting around as the last thing that happened before they took him came forth in his mind. "April!" he yelled suddenly. "Is she - Did you -?!"

The soldier smirked. "Oh, the redhead? She's a gonner."

"NO!" Casey dropped to his knees on the cold cement floor of the cell, his hands holding either side of his head as he doubled-over in anguish.

A pleased grin spread over the soldier's face. He knew the redheaded woman had escaped somehow, but his prisoner didn't need to know that. "Just wait 'till you find out what my boss has in store for _you_." The soldier walked off chuckling, leaving the prisoner to drown in his sorrow.

Casey didn't care what they were going to do to him. Nothing mattered anymore now that he knew April didn't make it.

- - - - -

For about four hours Casey laid on that cold cement floor not sleeping. He couldn't even tell if it was day time or not because there were no windows anywhere near his cell. He couldn't see much beyond the steel bars besides darkness, but he didn't care. Sitting up slowly, he sat indian-style with his hands holding onto his ankles in an attempt to have the least amount of his body touching the cold floor as possible. He tried to supress his shivers by clenching his teeth so they didn't chatter, but it just made the shivering worse. Closing his eyes, Casey tried to focus on anything besides the death of April and his current situation. It didn't help. All he felt was anger and resentment toward the shadow soldiers that captured and brought him in, and ultimately killed April.

The soldier from before with buzzed brown hair strutted toward Casey's cell and stood in front of it, grinning sadistically as he twirled a ring of keys on his right index finger. "My boss is ready for you now." he smirked, twirling a long, black electroprod in his left hand before he stuck a key in the lock of the cell door and it clicked open. "Don't try anything." he warned, pressing a button on the electroprod for emphasis as it made a sharp buzz and a flicker of electricity shot between the prongs of the forked end.

Without saying a word, Casey stood up with a scowl on his face and his fists clenched. He stared at the soldier as he unclipped something from his belt, then a pair of handcuffs were clamped down on Casey's wrists.

"You call me Sarge, you hear that lowlife?" The soldier sneered, taking a black hood out from a jacket pocket and putting it over Casey's head. Shoving him forward, Sarge pushed Casey along in the dark.

- - - - -

April woke up screaming, her eyes wide and desolate as her face was streaked with dried tears. She sat up on the small bed and wrapped her arms around her legs as she buried her face in her knees. She began crying, only quieting when Raphael walked into the room to comfort her, his three other brothers standing watchful in the doorway.

He sat down on the bed and rose a hand to her shoulder. "April.." he began hesitantly, unsure what to say. Raphael was never good at these kind of things. He turned toward the door, but his brothers just nodded encouragingly at him and walked away. They were all woken from April's screams, but decided it was best that Raphael go talk with her because he'd known Casey the longest, and there was no doubt in their minds that was why she was crying.

_"He's out there..." _she sniffled, raising her head slightly and wiping her eyes. _"We have to get him back."_

Hanging his head, Raphael stood slowly while looking down at April. "C'mon, let's go get somethin' for breakfast, then we'll go search the woods again okay? Maybe we'll get some clues in the daylight."

April gazed up with a quivering lower lip before forcing herself to stand. Trying to compose herself for the moment, she nodded and quietly left the room.

- - - - -

Casey was forced to sit down in a chair that looked much like the electric chair, and his wrists and ankles were fastened tightly with leather straps. He glared at Sarge when the hood over his head was removed, but the cold-hearted man just smirked.

"Is he ready?"

Looking up, Casey noticed a surveilance camera above a wall-mounted speaker where this new voice had come from.

"Yes Sir." Sarge replied to the voice.

"Alright, let's proceed." the emotionless voice of "Sir" said monotonously.

Casey was fed up with this bullshit, he wanted out, and he wanted answers. If April had died because of all this, he felt he had a right to know why. "I dunno why the hell you creeps captured me, or what the hell you're gonna do, but get yourselves ready for an ass whoopin' in the future!!" he shouted angrily, jerking against his bonds.

Sarge punched him in the side of the head. "Keep quiet! You can't speak to the boss that way!" he snapped, even as Casey glared back at him.

"Well then I'll talk ta you, ya arrogant bonehead!" Casey spat with a frustrated growl as he pulled harder against the constraining leather straps.

"I said get started!" Sir's voice wrang out from the speakers. His monotonous tone had turned loud and impatiently angry.

Sarge took a step back from the chair with a sharp nod to the camera before disappearing toward the back of the dark room, out of Casey's view.

Breathing heavily with his anger and frustration, Casey heard the clang of metal and other things shuffling about from behind. He looked off to his right when he heard Sarge's footsteps getting closer again, then tried to jerk away in vain as a needle was plunged into his forearm. "Hey!" he muttered as the soldier pulled the needle out with a smirk.

"This is just the beginning," Sarge laughed wickedly before disappearing behind the chair again.

- - - - -

Donatello sat in the livingroom fiddling with some sort of special tracking device when a heavily clothed April stormed past him to the front door. "Where are you going?" he called out, getting to his feet and dropping a screwdriver. He and his brothers had been equally worried about her since the other night. They all knew she was severely troubled with Casey's disappearance, they all were, but April needed him, and she knew he needed her.

"I'm going to find him," she shot back at Donatello as she flung open the door.

"Leo and Raph are already out searching," Donnie assured her, then gestured toward the kitchen. "I think Mikey's making some soup, why don't you make sure he doesn't burn anything." he suggested.

Without saying a word, April shook her head and stepped out into the cold, slamming the door closed behind her.

- - - - -


	9. Chapter IX

**Note: **Sorry it's taken so long ta get this chapter up. I knew what I wanted ta happen, but the problem was finding the right words. Heh. x-0; Thanks for reviewin' everyone! _:grins:_ Okay, to partially answer the question as to why the soldiers want Casey rather than the turtles; mainly, the soldiers that have Casey want to experiment _with _him, rather than _on _him. If that makes sense ta anyone but me. lol. Well, uh..enjoy!

**Shadow Games: IX**

Three long days had gone by without any sign of Casey, and his absense was taking it's toll on everyone, even those who frequently got annoyed with him such as Don and Leo. The turtles should have been back in New York by now, but they'd called Master Splinter on a shell-cell and explained their situation. None of the guys wanted to leave April alone, and Raphael was adamant about finding the people that took Casey and beating the ever-lovin' crap out of them.

Weary from their shift searching the snowy woods, Leonardo and Donatello trudged back into the farmhouse and slumped down on the sofa.

"Anything" Michelangelo asked quietly as he carried a small pile of logs toward the wood stove.

Leo shook his head with a dismal sigh.

"Even my D.A.T. couldn't pick up on any signals" Donatello frowned.

Mikey shoved some logs into the fire before turning toward his brother and raising an eyebrow. "Dat"

"Mm-hm." Donnie nodded. "DNA Analyzing Transponder. It can detect trace amounts of DNA. I programmed the sequence of Casey's DNA into the computer brain of the transponder by using a strand of hair found on his pillow. If it finds anything, the DAT will emit a radio signal." He held up something that looked like a Palm Pilot with several wires hanging off it.

"Riiiight." Giving a partial shrug, Mikey plopped himself down on the beanbag chair before reaching over and turning on the tv.

Footsteps sounded on the creaky stairs as April and Raphael made their way down. "We're goin' out" Raph muttered toward Don, Mike, and Leo before making his exit out the door with April.

-

Angry and confused thoughts ran through Casey's mind as he sat on the cold floor of his cell. This was a different one than where he had been when he first arrived at the place he had come to call"The Chamber". This new cell was just as cold as the last one, there was a tattered mattress in the middle of the floor to serve as a bed, and a grungy toilet was in the back right corner. Casey had assumed he'd been in The Chamber for a few days, but for the life of him, he still didn't know what these guys had done to him. All he knew was that the only person he saw was Sarge or the occasional guard, but he could always hear the one called "Sir".

Climbing to his feet stiffly, Casey stepped toward the ratty old mattress and sunk down on it, his legs stretched out in front of him and his head dropped down to his chest. The only clothing he was given was still just a pair of boxer shorts, though he'd been given clean ones atleast twice, when Sarge threw the familiar black hood over his head and he was dragged to a grungy tiled room with a drain in the floor and literally hosed down. Pretty much everything else about his time in The Chamber was hazy, and he'd woken several times with stitchwork on his body in numerous places.

Raising his head slightly, Casey gingerly rubbed his upper left arm where criss-cross stitching marred his flesh. He couldn't understand what had been done to him or why, and he was furious. It was time to take a stand.

A moment of opportunity soon presented itself when Casey heard Sarge's familiar footsteps approaching his cell. He figured he was in for more procedures that involved being drugged and waking up even more confused, but this time he wasn't going to obediently go along in a zombie-like trance.

Hearing the lock click before Sarge slid open the cell door, Casey stood robotically as if he was numb in the head. He walked stiffly toward the opening with his hands crossed at the wrists in front of him like he was waiting to be cuffed. As Sarge stepped aside, Casey could tell that the soldier had definetly led his guard down with him lately, because he had gotten pretty cooperative. Rookie mistake. He didn't even have the electroprod out this time.

Casey inwardly smirked as he narrowed his eyes and let his hair fall into his face, casting his features in shadow. He remained still as Sarge took out the black hood to pull over his head, this time mistakenly coming from the front instead of the back like he usually did. Swinging up his arms astonishingly fast, even to Casey, he struck Sarge hard in the jaw with both fists, knocking the startled soldier flat on his back. Then he made a run for it.

"Argh! Dammit"

He could hear Sarge screaming angrily as he ran down dark, cement hallways. Casey had no idea where he was going since every time he was moved from his cell he was forced to wear that stupid hood. Continuing to run blindly, he skidded down a hallway to the right, the smooth cement floor slick with water, causing him to slide around the turn. Regaining his footing, Casey quickened his pace, trying to desperately figure out which way would lead him out. The whole place was like the damn Labyrinth, and he half-expected some weird creature to pop out of a hidden door and start chasing him or something. Unfortunately, Casey pretty much got his wish, in one way or another.

As he bolted down another corridor, he suddenly lost all hope of escape. Atleast twelve suited and masked guards armed with electroprods and tranquilizer rifles blocked his way. Frowning angrily, Casey quickly turned back, stumbling to a halt only to find more guards behind him. He was trapped. _Sarge musta called in for back-up_, he thought bitterly, his arms dropping limply by his sides.

"Alright, alright! Outta the way" Sarge barked at the group of guards behind Casey, shoving his way through. His face was twisted in anger, a bit of blood dripping down his cut lip where he bit it when Casey socked him in the jaw. "You're gonna pay for this lowlife." Sarge snapped, throwing the black hood over his prisoner's head.

Casey felt something sharp prick his neck, and he let out a slurred curse before falling limply to the floor.

-

Blue eyes opened slowly to blearily find himself strapped to a table. "Whu-what'sh..goin' on" Casey slurred, his mind feeling foggy as he also discovered with horror that he was unable to move. It wasn't just because of the restraints, it was like all his muscles had stopped working. He heard sadistic laughter, then Sarge's voice.

"You're not gonna be able to move, so don't bother straining yourself" he sneered wickedly, his face looming over Casey and bathed in shadow. "Muscle relaxants and paralyzers work wonders. Can't have you breaking precious bones as you convulse from the electroshock therapy, now can we"

Casey's eyes widened in helpless terror as Sarge's laughter sounded in his ears again.

"Don't think you're getting any painkillers or anesthetics either lowlife. This is for that cheap shot to my jaw" Sarge spat as he rubbed conductive jelly on Casey's temples and attached electrodes before shoving a rubber block in his mouth so he didn't bite off his tongue. "I'm gonna warn ya, I'm an amateur at this procedure." he snickered with a sick grin while moving over to a machine and pressing a button.

Casey's teeth clamped down hard on the rubber block in his mouth as an electric current shot through his brain. Intense pain wracked his body, and as the seizure continued, he passed out.

-

"You wanna head back, you gettin' tired" Raphael asked as he glanced over at April who seemed to be scouring every square inch of the snowy ground for clues of some kind.

"No" April shook her head, pocketing her gloves and pulling out a different pair. She'd learned quickly that it helped to carry another set of gloves while being out in the cold for a while, because the pair she'd first been wearing always got wet or cold, and the ones in her pockets would be warm and dry. She was tired, but there was no way she was going to turn in yet. April was determined to find _something_. "Let's keep going."

Raph nodded, admiring her determination. They soon found themselves approaching the cave where Casey had been taken, and he knew that it had been searched several times, but they would still scour every bit of it. "I'll head inside, work on breakin' down that collapsed wall o' rocks again." he told April with a short grunt.

"Okay, I'll check the perimeter." she said before taking off.

As April headed around the cave, she rose a brow upon discovering what looked to be tire tracks from ATVs, and maybe a bigger four-wheel-drive vehicle of some kind. Following the tread marks, she was led further around the cave until her green eyes settled upon the figure of an unconscious man, his wrists bound together with thick rope that hung over a tree limb, causing his bare toes to just barely touch the snowy ground. April gasped, clutching a hand to her chest and feeling as though her heart had just stopped. "Casey" she choked out, tears streaming down her cheeks as she forced her legs to start working again and ran unsteadily toward him.

Hearing April's scream, even though it was unclear to him what she'd said, Raphael was immediately on alert, dashing out of the cave entrance and making his way around. He skidded to a halt when he spotted her, struggling to free a barely-clothed, unconscious Casey where he dangled from his wrists on a thick tree limb.

"Raph" April pleaded, turning to the turtle with teary eyes. "Help me get him down! Hurry"

Shaking off his shock, Raphael ran up to April, quickly brandishing his sais and hopping up on the branch since he couldn't reach it otherwise. He quickly cut away at the thick rope, then jumped down hurriedly so he could catch Casey before he slumped to the ground, even though April was there also trying to support his weight. "What did they do to 'im" he whispered as he looked his friend over. He was clothed only in a pair of tattered boxer shorts, faint lines from shoddy stitchwork all over his body.

April didn't say anything, just checked Casey's pulse and shed her outer jacket, draping it over him. "We need to get him to the house." she said seriously, hastily brushing away more tears.

Raphael pulled off one of his heavy sweatshirts, putting it on Casey before carefully hefting him onto his shoulder.

-

April and Raphael had been back at the farmhouse with Casey for about half an hour now, and Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo were all shocked and confused about how Casey had been found. He was just left there, almost as if he was no longer needed but not worth the effort to kill. Either that, or something else was going on. Could this all be a trick?

Leo and Donnie had taken the mattress from the other bed in Raph's room and dragged it downstairs to place by the wood stove. Raph had put Casey down on the mattress while April gathered a few blankets to put over him and Mikey ran back upstairs to get some pillows. Now they were all just seated in various places around the livingroom, quietly discussing their current thoughts, concerns, and questions about what had just happened.

Donatello ran a hand over his face and leaned back into the couch. "I just don't understand it. They abduct Casey for almost four days, then just drop him off in the woods where they've gotta know we'll be looking for him? But why" he shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe they wanted us to find him." Mikey offered with a slight shrug as he shifted in the beanbag chair on the floor.

Leo leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. "Why though"

Raphael growled angrily. "An' what the hell did they do to 'im! What's with the crummy stitchwork an' all those scars? I mean, were they operatin' on Case" his fists clenched tightly and he resisted the urge to take out his sais and just start cutting stuff up.

"I'm just glad he's back" April whispered, gazing off sadly as she rose from the couch and gingerly walked over to where Casey was laying. His face was blank as she watched him curl on his side, still unconscious, but appearing more to be sleeping. April lightly touched his hand, her fingertips gently brushing the rope burn marks on his wrists.

-

Bleary eyes eventually opened up wearily, blinking back the foggyness to clear his vision. Casey slowly pushed himself to a sitting position and took in his surroundings. All he remembered was the hazy vision of a dark cell, and being electrocuted on a few occasions. _Electroshock therapy... _His mind responded slowly as he blinked. He could remember being imprisoned, the soldiers, and the man called "Sarge" that was always there to transport him from one place to another, always pulling a black hood over his head, always torturing him. Casey shuddered at the memory, but he couldn't figure out much else. Details were cloudy and he couldn't help but feel as though something was stolen from him.

"Casey" the voice was warm, concerned, and he recognized it easily with shock. "Oh God, Casey" April cried out teary-eyed, rushing over to the mattress he was laying on by the wood stove. She threw her arms around him and buried her face into his shoulder.

He stiffened as soon as her arms enveloped him. Everything before the moment of his capture was clear, and he thought she was dead. He'd been _told _she was dead. But who told him? That's right, it was Sarge. Why did he believe him? How could he believe that bastard after what he'd done"A-April" Casey choked out, his eyes stinging with tears. He returned the embrace and held her tightly, breathing her in. "The - they told me you.. you were dead.."

Letting the tears flow freely down her cheeks, April sniffled, drawing back a little so that she was gazing into Casey's watery blue eyes. "No, I'm right here Casey, I'm right here" she gently stroked the side of his face with her hand, her voice wavering as she spoke. "I was so worried about you... We all were. I - I missed you so much"

Casey's heart ached at the sound of her voice, the voice that he'd been missing to hear, that he never thought he'd hear again. He wanted to take all her pain away right then, to not let her suffer any longer from what she'd been through, not knowing what had happened to him. In the next moment, Casey impuslively drew a hand to the back of April's neck, pulling her toward him gently until their lips met for a long-awaited kiss.

April was lost in the comforting kiss for a blissful moment before she slowly leaned back. Her soft green eyes were locked with Casey's before they shifted, scanning over his chest and arms where the visible stitchmarks damaged his skin. Brows furrowing, April lightly traced her fingers along a faint scar line. "Do these hurt"

Blinking, Casey followed her eyes to the marks all over him. He smiled crookedly. "It ain't so bad." His memory was intact, and he recalled everything except what was done to him. In that area things got muddled up. He just remembered waking up a few times on the floor or a ratty old mattress, then finding more marks and stitchwork on his body. Casey's jaw and muscles ached, but he wasn't going to tell April that. Somehow he knew that was an after-effect from the electroshock. Did they do that to make him forget? But why did they let him go"How'd I get here"

April frowned a little, brushing her tear-stained cheeks with the back of her hand. "We found you in the woods."

"Hey, we heard" Leonardo trailed off as he came down the stairs with his brothers. He stopped when he saw that Casey was awake, April sitting on the corner of the mattress beside him.

"Case" Raphael exclaimed heartily as he strode toward them with a pleased grin on his face. "How ya doin' man"

Furrowing his brows, Casey shot a confused look toward Raphael and cocked his head to the side. "Who - who are you"

Raph's face suddenly slackened with sadness.

Mikey ran over beside his brother, staring wide-eyed. "You don't remember us" he exclaimed with shock.

Raphael soon detected the faint mischievous smirk on his pal's face. He let out a bark of laughter and shook his head. "You _bonehead_, that's not funny." he moved closer to Casey and April, giving his usual brawling partner a friendly pat on the shoulder. "It's good ta have ya back Case."

He nodded, sending a crooked smile in the direction of Mikey, Leo, and Don. "Yeh, it's good ta see all you guys again."

Donatello would have preferred to run some tests and question Casey about what had happened, but he knew that probably wasn't a real good idea after all the guy had been through. He refrained from questioning and just gave a friendly smile.

"So, anybody hungry" Leonardo asked, trying to lighten the mood since it wasn't a sad occasion any longer.

"Me! Me" Michelangelo sang with a big goofy grin as he leapt into the air.

Seeing that it appeared as though April and Casey could use some alone time, Raphael started to usher all his brothers toward the kitchen. "C'mon guys, lets all get dinner ready."

"Raphie-boy, I've had your cooking, maybe it's a good idea if you just make some tea or somethin'." Mikey jeered with a laugh.

"Ah, shaddap" Raph teased, elbowing his brother and shoving him into the door before they entered the kitchen.

"Hey"

April listened to the brothers' bickering as they walked into the other room, thankful for the oncoming quiet. Her focus soon switched back over to Casey, who shifted to a more comfortable sitting position.

"I never wanna lose you again April" he said suddenly, with a loving gentleness that she had never heard in his voice before.

She smiled warmheartedly. "Me neither" she whispered, this time being the one to provoke the kiss. April held him tightly, enjoying the moment, even though she had a sinking feeling in her gut that this wasn't the end of their troubles.

- **The End** -

**Note: **I know you all probably hate me, but I decided not to reveal what the soldiers really did to Casey. But DON'T WORRY! I'll be doing another sequel, which will answer that nagging question, and will DEFINETLY have more April/Casey-ness, 'cuz I realize not much has happened between them, relationship-wise, yet. Sorry! Don't skewer me with anythin'! x-0; Heh, heh. I dunno when the third part of this series (I guess it's a series now...) will be out, but look for it in the future! And PLEASE REVIEW!


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